Martin Indyk Says Israeli Settlements Killed Middle East Peace Talks

Martin Indyk, the former chief U.S. envoy for Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, said Israeli settlement activity caused the Palestinians to walk away from negotiations.

Indyk, who quit his post as peace envoy last week after the breakdown of talks, blamed settlement activity for the failure in an interview published Thursday by The Atlantic.

“The Israeli attitude is that’s just planning,” Indyk said in reference to announcements of construction plans in settlements and in east Jerusalem that Israel made during talks. “But for the Palestinians, everything that gets planned gets built.” Indyk said the construction plan announcements, which coincided with Israel’s agreed-upon release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners in several installments, undermined Abaas’ standing.

“The fact that the announcements were made when the prisoners were released created the impression that Abu Mazen had paid for the prisoners by accepting these settlement announcements,” Indyk said. As a result, Abbas suddenly “shut down,” Indyk said.

By the time Abbas visited Washington in March, he “had checked out of the negotiations,” repeatedly telling U.S. officials that he would “study” their proposals, Indyk added.

“There is a deep loathing of each leader for the other that has built up over the years,” Indyk said.

He later clarified, using Abbas’ nickname: “‘Loathing’ may be too strong for how Netanyahu feels about Abu Mazen. But it’s certainly the way Abu Mazen feels about Netanyahu. He refers to him as ‘that man.’”